...LIBERTY UNIVERSITY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY “A Select Issue in Contemporary Theology: God-Is-Dead Theology” Submitted to Dr. Eunice Abogunrin In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of THEO 510-B05 Survey of Theology By John Kohler Whitley October 5, 2014 Introduction Friedrich Nietzsche believed God is dead, and he has based his theology around these three words. Why does he believe God is dead? Friedrich Nietzsche could have called his theology God does not exist and easily conveyed his message. Nietzsche purposefully chose these three words to send a message to the Christian faith. Since the beginning of time the existence of God has been questioned. Science has attempted to provide humanity with an explanation for human origin and has failed. Atheists argue that God does not exist and do not really offer any strong counter argument to the contrary. Muslims, Jews, and Christians each claim they serve the one supreme Creator of the universe. Who is right and who is wrong? If God is dead, why is religion alive and well? This paper will attempt to answer these questions by providing examples and counter examples. By taking a closer look at the life of Friedrich Nietzsche, his beliefs, morals and values, one will find that he does not possess any evidence that God is dead. Friedrich Nietzsche The life of Friedrich Nietzsche started out rather sadly. Nietzsche’s father, Karl Ludwig Nietzsche, developed a problem in the brain...
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...UNIVERSITY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY A Select Issue in Contemporary Theology: God-Is-Dead Theology Submitted to Dr. Lee Mitchell, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of the course THEO 510 – B01 Survey of Theology by Kevin Curtis July 1, 2014 Table of Contents Introduction/Thesis Statement 1 The French Revolution 2 Immanuel Kant Albrecht Ritschl Friedrich Nietzsce 3 Bultman Bonhoeffer Van Buren Hamilton Altizer Conclusion 4 Bibliography 5 Introduction/Thesis Statement One of the most difficult questions today posed to Christian believers is to prove the existence of God. It by all appearances seems that the Christian belief, far more than any other is under attack by groups who are opposing not just belief in God but also a direct attack on religious freedom. By religious freedom the author here does not focus on the right to choose your religion, but to practice it openly without fear of legal retaliation or of retaliation of any kind. The God-Is-Dead Theology is not a new belief but has existed since the late nineteenth century with its roots founded in statements made by Friedrich Nietzsche who lived from 1844 and died in 1900. The sole purpose of this paper is to show the historical workings of those “theologians” who created the God-Is-Dead theology, how it got its possible rise stemming from the events of the French Revolution...
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...THEOLOGY OF WORSHIP ___________________ A Paper Presented to Dr. Timothy J. Ralston Dallas Theological Seminary ___________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Course PM302 – Pastoral Theology and Leadership II ___________________ By Kevin Goldsmith May 30, 2011 Box #640 THEOLOGY OF WORHSIP Introduction Worship has been around since the creation to recognize the Creator, and is extremely important to the church. “Worship is the single activity that both unifies and transcends time.”1 However, the method in which the believer has worshipped God has changed and looks different. So one must ask the question, what is the proper way to worship God? Or what are the nonnegotiable parts that must be included to worship? In this paper we will develop a philosophy to determine what worship is, what should be included in worship today, and how important theology is to the leader of the worship experience. Defining Worship There are three terms in the bible that help us to understand worship. The first word is hwjtvh, which literally means to bow down. This word “emphasizes the way an Israelite thought of approaching the to the holy presence of God.”2 The second Old Testament word we must look at is dAbDo meaning to serve. “The highest designation of the Hebrew in his engagement with the worship of God is just this word servant.”3 In the New Testament the word most often used for worship is proskune÷w. This word carries the same meaning as to bow Timothy J...
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...Study & Resurrection of Jesus Christ. I chose these topics due to nature of the subjects, what I was reading and learned over the past few weeks in Theology 104. I will give a full analysis of what I have read & implemented in my everyday life as I move forward in this class. TOPIC 1: BIBLE STUDY The Theological Definition of Bible Study: Bible theology is an attempt to articulate the theological aspects that the Bible contains as its writers addressed their particular settings. It is also the study of the Bible that seeks to discover what the biblical writers, under divine guidance, believed, described, and taught in the context of their own times. The Biblical Foundation of Bible Study: are the doctrines & teachings found in the Word of God that Christians cherish the most. These doctrines or teachings are taught very precisely from the word of God. There’s some examples; the virgin birth of Christ, the second coming of Christ, the preservation of the Word of God, & the atonement of our sins. The Practical Application of Bible Study: From the theological definition & the biblical foundation of Bible Study I’m taking in to consideration I am more about the studying habits set forth in learning about the Word of God. I see it along with my fellow classmates in this course how we can all grow closer to God knowing what Christ the Son did for us when he gave his life as a price for our sins. The testimonies I read in the forum on the discussion board is...
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...Christian Faith Rhonda Rigsby APOL 500 7/7/13 Target Audience The selected target audience for this paper is atheists. Atheists are defined as “a person who denies or disbelieves the existence of God or gods”, according to the Random House College dictionary. The first order of business within the atheist argument is that atheism is not a belief at all. Many Christians cringe when they hear the word atheism or that someone is an atheist, while some become angry, others consider it an opportunity to convert a lost soul. Statistics have shown an increase in atheism, which was predicted in the bible, and many tend to think that atheists all come from a scientific background and that as many as ninety-five percent of scientists are atheists. A study by Curry concludes differently reporting that seven percent of scientists are Christians and twenty-one percent are agnostic, while seventy-two percent report they do not believe they have a personal god.However, during this study it appears some skewness existed in the sense people were asked if they believed that God was affective and communicates with mankind. With this a part of the equation, most based their response on the fact they did not think God, if they believe He does exist, actually tried to communicate with mankind. At the end of the study, they concluded that thirty four participants actually were atheists by the above mentioned dictionary’s definition. They do not categorize...
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...Explain the role of reason within theology as it seeks to deepen its understanding of the mysteries of faith. By: Carolyn Curry Rel: 123 Christian Spiritual Vision Jesus Christ – is the embodied Lord. However there are people who do not believe that he exist. Some people will say he is not even real. This must be found through context of the Bible and the understandings of theology, Scripture, God, Christ, man, sin and the Holy Spirit. This we know “Theology without experience is empty Experience without theology is blind.”(Kant’s) Let’s say theology would have had specific theological methods of demonstrations of scientific developments of growth in one’s Faith. Aristotle saw, many fields he inquired using a similar method for it. However it would be foolish to use other methods to try and disapprove the existence of God, for God must not be used for an experiment, however he is considered the first cause of all things. When demonstrating God’s existence there are two things there are needed in Philosophical and empirical methods. Having those two methods and combining faith and philosophical reason one can penetrate everything into the Revelation of God. Theology, is a simple science which is based on the Revelation of God, which uses reason to know what exactly God’s revealed. Empirical science and philosophy are both a different method of theology. In today’s society there are Christians and non-Christians that think theology is only used for rigorous or demonstrative...
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...psychology and Christianity: An introduction to worldview issues, philosophical foundations, and models of integration, opens the reader’s eyes to unexpected possibilities, beginning with the often combative regimes of faith and reason using Tertullian’s symbolism of Athens as the seat of reason and Jerusalem as the seat of faith; which is the basic ongoing battle between science and religion (Entwistle, 2010). What Entwistle addresses is his belief that integration of the disciple of psychology and Christianity is possible, each contributing to the whole allowing effective therapy, where the therapist becomes a type of shepherd that invites the client into the goodness of God and introduces Christ as his savior. Psychology attempts to understand, describe, and diagnose human behavior but Christian theology seeks to understand “what it means to be human” (Entwistle, 2010, p. 3). In the end Entwistle (2010) reoccurring theme throughout the book is that this integration is possible because “all truth is God’s truth” (p. 13). All the reasoning, precise measurements, and descriptives of psychology are possible because of God’s work in creation. Entwistle expands on the concept of worldviews and how each individual interprets everything around them. Each person will search for the truth but it will be biased according to the individual’s worldview. To understand these biases it is important for each individual to examine their own presuppositions because these effects the way the...
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...Pcantan2 Turabian Writing Style THEO 202-B17 Hamartiology: The Problem of Evil (Theodicy) You would have to ask yourself, why does a God who is all-loving and all-powerful, allow evil to exist in a world that was divinely created by Him? Because when you ponder the problem of evil, it is the most obvious and serious challenge to belief (Faith) in God and His existence, which is why religious scholars have dedicated so much effort towards resolving it. Elwell states, “The phrase ‘the problem of evil’ is a label for a series of such problems involving good and evil.”[1] But the problem with evil is if an omnipotent and omniscient God exists, then there should be no reason God would tolerate such pain and suffering. Evil acts, thoughts, and words will always separate us from God, which was established from the beginning with Adam and Eve. Isaiah 59:2 says “your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.”[2] This is the only thing that separates us from God and causes Him to turn His face away from men. However, evil would have never existed had Adam and Eve not sinned and opened the door for it to enter the world upon all men (Romans 5:12).[3] The resolution then is to be united back to God, who is the source of eternal life, through His Son Jesus, (1 Jn.5:20; Jn.17:2-3). The biggest problem today, among believers and non-believers, is that they are blinded to what evil is and what...
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...Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………………..…..12 INTRODUCTION The idea of the rapture has been symbolized in movies, documentaries, books of both fiction and non-fiction. It appears as though many have heard about the rapture and the second coming of Christ, but not too many individuals understand the full theology behind both events. Many Christians and scholars have discussed the second coming of Christ, however, many have not given this topic the close attention that it deserves. Many Christians believe that they have an understanding of the rapture, but few can describe the view they hold on the rapture, when it will occur, and what the period of Tribulation means. This is often because Christians tend to shy away from a full understanding of the end-times and the second coming of Christ. There are many varying views on the rapture, and the occurrence of the rapture and what that means for believers and non-believers. Many assume that all they need to know about the rapture is that it is an even in which righteous Christians are called to Heaven, as this is what they have read in books, or perhaps seen in movies. However, where Christians fail in understanding is when the ascension into heaven occurs, whether it’s before the wrath of God, or after, or if there is a period of suffering prior to...
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...range, it has been referred to as an occasional rather than systematic theology. (Moo 2000) Paul’s letter is purely theological in its entirety, but the content of this one letter is not the entirety of Christianity in itself. With the main idea of Romans being debatable, many agree on the emphasis of justification by faith. Paul’s letters contain a system of truth that enables the believer to understand and grow in the reality of what Jesus has done and is doing for us. ( (Hankins 2010) In these brief moments we look at some of the key points that are issues of the day in Rome and how Paul speaks on them. In doing so, we attempt to find out what the biblical worldview or how believers in Christ should see things in light of being bought with the blood of Jesus. Worldview Regarding Creation in Romans The letter to Rome addresses creation by proving that the existence of God is not the goal of reason; the existence of God is the premise for right reason. (Johnson 2012) For Paul this reality is so obvious that its denial requires a “suppression of the truth” (1:18) that in the fashioning of every human being “his eternal power and deity has been clearly perceived” (1:20). By the things we witness on a daily basis we can decipher facts about God that transcend all dialects, cultural boundaries, etc. Whether or not humans “glorify God” is a major motif running through Romans. Mankind should give thanks to God for the gift of its creation. Idolatry begins with the refusal of this...
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...of the Holy Spirit must be biblically based. He explains that man has two spiritual needs; the first one being forgiveness and the second goodness. Whether consciously or unconsciously his inner being longs for both. He also indicates that God has heard our cry for forgiveness and answered it at Calvary. God sending his one and only son into the world to die for our sins that we may be forgiven. This is a gift from God of salvation. To the great gift of forgiveness God also adds the great gift of the holy spirit, Indicating the holy spirit meets our needs to escape from the miserable weakness that grips us, giving us the power to be truly good(Graham, 2002). Powell describes the doctrine of entire sanctification to be the idea of love. Love is our union with another being. Our love for God is our union with God and participating is his Trinitarian life. To fully love God we have to be fully immersed in God’s life that our identity is changed. To love God we have to have God as an integral part of our life that a return to the world of sin would mean the disruption and fragmentation of the new self that God creates. How wonderful it is to understand that concept, once you are awaken from your sleep you are alive to a world which is now dead to you, but now you are created in a different way to where you understand life in a new way. Perfect love is a love that is unmixed (Powell, 2008). This means that we participate in a life of imitating Christ,...
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...known, the story of one God creating Earth and human life, but one of the less understood creation stories is from the Egyptian Civilisation. Egyptian cosmogonies were distinctly unique and directed more towards explaining the order of the world, also known as Maat, rather than the actual creation of mankind. It focused on more important factors like sun rising each day and annual Nile flooding. It was believed that Egyptian life would continue its orderly progression irrespective of whether humans lived or died. Egyptian kings and queens were regarded as incarnations of the gods and provided order with the help from symbolic rites and rituals. Differing Egyptian cosmogonies can be found where each world was created in diverse means according to their understanding and beliefs of the universe. A similarity of these stories was the world beginning from chaotic, lifeless water, described as Nu or Nun , when for the ‘first occasion’ the sun rose from a mound in a period sometimes called ‘Zep Tepi’. This ‘first occasion’ is referred to as the appearance of sun-god Ra or the god of the newly-risen sun, Khepri. Other versions of the sun rising include it having emerged from a lotus flower that grew from the mound, in the form of a heron, falcon, scarab beetle, or human child. The three main Egyptian cosmogonies were named of locations they were centred: 1. Hermopolis - Hermopolis Magna, located at ancient site of Khmun, central Egypt. Eight Gods known as the Ogdoad of...
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...SIGNS AND MIRACLES PAPER Liberty University, November 27th , 2011 Introduction “Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of His disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may believe Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and by believing you may have life in His name.” John 20:30-31 (HCSB) In the Gospel of John there are eight recorded sign miracles that Jesus Christ performed. This paper will briefly describe each miracle and how it reveals the deity of Jesus Christ. Turning of Water into Wine The first miracle Jesus performed was changing water into wine. He and His disciples arrived at a wedding celebration that was already in progress. Mary, the mother of Jesus, came to Him and told Him they had run out of wine, presumably because she knew that He was capable of doing something about the dilemma.[1] Jesus responded by telling her that His hour had not yet come. While scholars disagree on what Jesus meant by this statement, it is obvious that Mary, as a woman of faith, understood enough that she instructed the servants at the wedding to do whatever Jesus asked them to do.[2] Jesus did in fact direct the servants to fill six pots with water, which He then miraculously changed into a fine quality wine. “The changing of water into wine is surely meant to bring out the power of Jesus to bring about new beginnings.”[3] We might parallel the higher quality of wine that Jesus made from the water with the higher quality of life...
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...Human thought cannot grasp the perfect nature of God because we are not perfect, and we are born into sin. We try to rationalize ideas that do not make sense in our minds, but really make perfect sense if we apply them to scripture. God allowing any human into heaven ultimately shows his love. Humanity on a day-to-day basis goes against what God commands, and what God expects from us. No one deserves to go to heaven. If we choose to live in sin all of our lives why would God allow us in heaven? People who love the Lord and say no to earthly temptations will experience riches in Heaven, and those who choose to live for pleasure now will feel the wrath of God in Hell. God is sovereign and people forget this, and we must not confuse love with justice. There are three popular views on what happens to the soul when you die. Eternal punishment is the opposite of eternal life. It’s that idea for that eternity one will suffer in the absence of Christ instead of living eternally in his presence. In this view sin will ultimately be punished for those who do not repent. Annihilationism claims that when a person dies they will pass, or ultimately perish out of existence. This theory can be broken down further classifying the soul as naturally mortal, God gives immortality, or all are immortal unless destroyed by God. The third view is universalism, which claims that atonement is not limited and extends to all. Universalists believe that God is incompatible with eternal suffering, and saved...
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...Will Church Go Through the Great Tribulation? Critical Evaluation of Dispensational & Historic Premillennialism views on Tribulation Tekalign Shiferaw Box, M-4 Evangelical Theological College Addis Ababa Submitted to: Dr. Seblewengel Daniel Course: Ecclesiology and Eschatology November 1st, 2012 1|Page 1. Introduction Whether the church will go through the Great Tribulation or not is one of the massive debatable topics among Evangelical scholars. For example, prominent Evangelical Scholars such as: C.I. Scofield, Tim Lahaye, Robert L. Thomas, John Walvoord, Paige Patterson, et al. argue for the position that church will not go through the Great tribulation, and on the other side, D.A. Carson, Wayne Grudem, George Ladd, Robert Mounce, Gundry Robert Horton, et al. argue for the position that church will go through the Great Tribulation.1 “The view that Christ will take the church to himself prior to the tribulation is called pretribulationism; the view that he will take the church after the tribulation is called posttribulation”.2 Which view is nearly biblical, Pretribulationism or posttribulationism? This paper will explore historical development of the teaching of the secret rapture [which is the teaching of pretribulationism], scriptural evidences and arguments which both view advocates bring to validate their views, and the writer’s position and arguments. 1. The Great Tribulation Before we engage in investigating historical development of pretribulational...
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